A Survey on Leading Indications of Fetomaternal Therapeutic Abortions in Yazd: A Cross Sectional Study

Congenital abnormalities are diseases that occur during fertilization of the egg or development of the fetus and lead to disability, illness or mortality. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the factors associated with fetomaternal abnormalities in therapeutic abortions.                                                                                      
This cross-sectional study was performed on 391 mothers referred to Yazd Legal Medicine Organization for pregnancy termination from March 2017 to March 2020. The data about mothers and their fetuses were extracted and recorded.
The most common fetal abnormalities observed in this study were central nervous system abnormalities (21.1%), subsequently chromosomal disorder (16.8%), hydrops fetalis, cystic hygroma (15.9%), syndromic disorders (10.1%), single-gene disorders (8.1%), dysmorphology (8.1%), musculoskeletal disorders (7.8%), and cardiovascular disorders (7.2%).
The main maternal causes for therapeutic abortion were cardiovascular disease, kidney diseases and cancers, while the most common fetal disorders leading to therapeutic abortion were central nervous system disorders such as anencephaly.